WON’T ALLOW MEDDLING IN OUR DOMESTIC POLITICS: NEPAL’S FOREIGN MIN

NEW DELHI: Nepal will never allow external meddling in its politics as its leadership is capable of handling problems, Nepalese foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali said on Saturday amid apprehensions in India about China’s role in the country’s political turmoil.

Gyawali, in India to co-chair a meeting of the bilateral joint commission, said his country has “excellent” ties with India and China. “Nepal’s relations with both neighbours are excellent. We never compare our relations with each other and we never accept interference in our domestic politics or internal affairs,” he told reporters at the Nepalese embassy.

“We are able to settle our problems ourselves. As a close neighbour, there may be some concerns or questions, but we never accept interference,” he said, replying to a question about China’s bid to resolve differences between factions of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

Gyawali skirted a question about remarks by NCP leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had split the ruling party and dissolved Parliament on the “direction of India”, and said he also represented Prachanda and it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to comment.

He defended Oli’s decision to dissolve the House of Representatives and call early elections by saying this was the outcome of long-standing “internal problems”. He added, “In a parliamentary system, if the prime minister feels the time has come to seek a fresh mandate, it is the universally accepted practice that the government can dissolve parliament and seek a fresh mandate.” Nepal was plunged into uncertainty by Oli’s decision to dissolve parliament after problems within the NCP increased in recent months.